Final ballot count shows 60 percent voted

Another 145 ballots were added to the general election count Monday after final review by the county’s election canvass board. The final count for the election was 11,732 from the 19,383 registered voters for a 60.53 percent return. The board officially certified the election results Tuesday morning.

Results remain unchanged in the final count with Joe Reynolds winning another term as assessor by a margin of 123 votes over challenger Jim Hawkes. Final count in the assessor’s race was 4,523 for Reynolds and 4,400 for Hawkes. Voters also turned in 202 write-in ballots.

Largest addition from the canvass board Monday was 87 votes allowed from the questionable signature field. The ballots were put aside when the signatures were compared with the signatures of the voter registration cards. The board rejected another 55 ballots with questionable signatures.

The board also allowed 48 of 82 ballots which were returned without signatures. The 48 approved were ballots where the voter responded to notice that their ballot was not signed by reporting to the elections office and signing.

Another 10 ballots out of 12 were approved in the miscellaneous category.

A total of 61 ballots mailed after the Nov. 4 postmark date were rejected. Also, 894 ballots which were returned as undeliverable by the post office were rejected by the board.

Auditor Eunice Coker, Commissioner Art Swannack and Senior Deputy Prosecutor Dan Le Beau made up the canvass board.